Dwell magazine has a fascinating interview with UC Berkeley architecture professor Nezar AlSayyad, about the peculiar urban design that went into Tahrir Square, the locus of so many protests in Cairo. AlSayyad, who also heads up the university's Center for Middle Eastern Studies, explains that the square - which…

For three days, geeks, online activists, and D.I.Y. filmmakers protested peacefully in Tahrir Square. For three nights, they slept in tents with laptops and cellphones charged by hacked street lights. On the fourth day, the lynch mob came.